Standard Liège Coach Vincent Euvrard Confirms Timothé Nkada Wants to Leave Amid Transfer Uncertainty

Speaking to the media following Standard’s narrow 2-1 victory over OH Leuven at Den Dreef, Euvrard laid bare the fractured relationship with the French striker. Nkada was entirely omitted from the matchday squad for the fixture after making clear his desire to exit the club before the transfer window slams shut.

“It’s correct,” Euvrard told reporters regarding Nkada’s transfer request. “He is not happy with his situation at the club, just as the club hasn’t been happy with him, nor he with me. We’ll see what happens, but he’s a player we paid quite a bit of money for. We also have to be able to recover something. It’s a matter to be settled between the management and him.”

Despite the current impasse, Euvrard indicated that the bridge is not completely burned should a move fail to materialize before the deadline. The coach noted that if Nkada remains a Standard player past September 4, both parties will sit down to clear the air and attempt to salvage the relationship.

“If Timo is still here on September 4, we will restart the process and have a good conversation where we say things to each other,” Euvrard added. “There is always a way. There is no total fracture between him, the club, and me, but he has lost confidence and he wants to leave. If he is still here, he will remain a Standard player, coached by me, and we will try to find a solution.”

The Ayensa Transfer Saga and Tactical Relief

While Nkada pushes for an exit, the mood around Iranian international Dennis Ayensa stands in stark contrast. Ayensa played a decisive role in the victory at Leuven just days after a lucrative transfer to a Turkish club collapsed at the eleventh hour—a move that would have more than doubled his current salary.

Euvrard praised the forward’s professionalism in returning to training and focusing entirely on the pitch despite the mental exhaustion of a turbulent week. “When he came into my office about his departure, I felt he didn’t want to leave at all costs, but when there are significant amounts involved, you can understand a departure,” Euvrard explained. “Hats off to him because he lived through a complicated week. You have to know how to digest disappointment, and he did it.”

When asked whether he could block a potential sale, Euvrard offered a humorous reality check before affirming his desire to keep the player. “If I can tell Marc [Rouche’s sporting direction] that I don’t want Dennis to leave? Yes, I can do that… but I don’t know if I will be heard (laughs). More seriously, yes, I hope to be able to keep Dennis in the squad.”

Squad Balance and the Zeqiri Question

The forward line at Sclessin faces further evolution as Andi Zeqiri completed medical tests awaiting a definitive solution from the club’s hierarchy. Euvrard acknowledged that the sporting management had already prepared a contingency plan before the complications arose with Ayensa’s aborted Turkish move.

Looking ahead at squad equilibrium, the manager cautioned against bloating the roster with players of identical profiles. With Ayensa, Wilfried Nsimba, and the unsettled Nkada already on the books, adding another similar striker requires careful calculation from the front office.

“Andi and Dennis have already played together, but you also have to be careful not to have an oversized squad,” Euvrard noted. “We have Ayensa and Nsimba on the bench, and Nkada is still a Standard player. Being short-handed is not good, but being over-staffed isn’t either over the long term. We have to calculate things well, especially since these players have more or less the same profile and the same age.”

Match Context and Standings Realities

The off-field drama unfolded against the backdrop of a difficult Jupiler Pro League outing where Standard ground out three points despite being dominated for long stretches at Den Dreef. Casper Nielsen opened the scoring from the penalty spot before Ayensa added the crucial second goal to secure the victory.

Euvrard admitted his side was fortunate to walk away with the win after surrendering control for much of the second half. “We never really found an answer to their physical play,” the coach observed, pointing to a tactical shift to a five-man defense in the dying stages to weather the pressure. “In general, we don’t deserve the victory today, but we deserve at least eight points from our first four games. That’s football.”

Standard returns to training this week as the club’s administration races to finalize outgoing and incoming transfers ahead of the closing deadline, with all eyes turning to the final resolution of both the Nkada and Zeqiri files.